Calling all student coders … Dive into our Scratch competition!

Want to give your students a tough but engaging coding challenge? We’ve teamed up with The Mind Lab to put together a cunning Scratch-based competition – we provide the template and your students then add their code to finish the own unique game.

Aim of the game

The theme is ‘Clean Our Ocean’. The aim is to program the diver character to save the fish by collecting the rubbish.

We’ve set up a template to get you started. Now it’s up to you to determine exactly how it works. You have to code the parts to the game, for example:

You program the diver to move and collect the rubbish (it disappears when touched)

You program the rubbish to move and catch the fish (the fish disappeared when touched by rubbish)

Take the template and develop your own, unique game, based on the ‘Clean Our Ocean’ theme. Add some surprises and challenges to the playing of your game, like a title page and instructions, new elements and actions, or different levels. For ideas and inspiration, check out games others have made with Scratch.

Choose your level

There are three categories, each with a similar game scenario but starting from templates of differing complexity:

Beginner: Years 3 to 5

Intermediate: Years 6 and 7

Advanced: Years 8 to 10

Judging criteria

Entries will be scored out of 100 points, as follows:

Coding skill: The proficiency and complexity of the programming – 50 points

Creativity: The design and look of the game, and the extras added – 20 points

Playability: How well and efficiently the game plays – 20 points

Wow factor: Judges’ discretion – 10 points

Win a Ranger Drone with HD Camera

And the challenge is not the only reward. The winning entry in each category will receive a Kaiser Bass Alpha Drone Quadcopter for their classroom.

How to get going

You will need a Scratch account and know how to code using the program. Find out more on the Scratch website, scratch.mit.edu. If you’re new to Scratch, there’s plenty of help, advice and tutorials to get you up and running.

Simply download the appropriate template (below). Then upload it to your Scratch account and start coding your own game.